And then there is the tale of the water pump

We were warned by the Alpine group that when a water pump fails, it does so without warning.
They were correct.
So, we found ourselves "pumpless," en route to Prosser.  This would normally not be a big deal if you have a site with water hookup. However, for the Good Sam rally, the majority of RV-ers, including us, were to be in the dry camping area adjacent to the RV Resort. Without a water pump, dry camping would be, well, dry, and without means of accessing the water in the fresh water storage tank on board. And it would present a few challenges with using the bathroom and kitchen.

Thanks to a couple of phone calls, a few emails, previous advice from Alpine owners who replaced water pumps, and our great US postal service, Michael arranged to have our new water pump delivered to the Wine Country RV Resort.
We were lucky. When we arrived on Thursday, our new pump was waiting for us at the office. There was also a last minute cancellation in the resort that we were able to take, thanks to the kind and understanding manager who knew about our plight and accepted delivery of our package.
It also gave Michael a bit more time to figure out how to install the new pump. In between balloon chasing and meeting Good Sam rally folks.

Michael in the bay installing the new water pump

We now have our new "Aquatec RV 55 AquaJet II" variable speed pump installed in the bay. And thanks to Vic Egg, Michael also installed the fresh water shut-off valve from the bag of various goodies (plumbing parts) Vic gave him when we were in Bend together this past spring.

Had it not been for the failed water pump, we would have been set up here with 65 other Good Sam rigs in the dry camping area -

Instead, we met our Good Sam neighbors in the resort hookup sites next to us and enjoyed getting to know them. We met more folks at the barbecue that the resort hosted one evening. And we were invited to a chapter get-together and learned more about the Good Sam local associations.